Hand printing-press.



HAND PRINTING PRES S.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

THEODORE F. WALES, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

HAND PRINTING-PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 22, 1907.

Application filed June 28,1907. Serial No. 381,376.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, THEODORE F. WALES, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairliold and State of Connecticut, have invented new and useful improvements in Hand Printing-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in printing presses and is particularly designed for printing menu cards or bills-of-fare or other matter so that the possessor of the machine, who is ordinarily obliged to employ the job printers to do this work, can with very little trouble do the printing himself and at a small expense.

The invention broadly consists in providing the basepiece of the press with means for holding the type form iigidly in place, also with means for adjustably supporting a reciprocating inking roller so that the roller can be accurately gaged with relation to the type-form; and further with means for reciprocating the inking roller across the upper surface of the type-form, the invention further consisting in mounting above the base-piece a vertically reciprocating platen with means for effecting the reciprocation of the same towards and from the type-form; also with means for accurately adjusting the platen with relation to the type form, and means carried by the reciprocating inking carriage for drawing into the press a blank and ejecting the same therefrom after printing thereof has been effected.

With these objects in view, the invention will be fully described in the following specification with reference to the figures and the reference characters marked thereon.

in the drawings forming part of this application,- Figure 1 is a top plan view of the press showing the operating handle that is secured to a rotatable shaft, the shaft being mounted in bearings which are secured to the basepiecc, the shaft being also provided with a cam for reciprocating the platen, and with an arm for engaging a fork which is attached to the upper end of a shaft, whereby the lnl10ll(3l' may be reciprocated. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the press on the line 2-2, l ig. 1, showing clearly in side elevation the position of the type form on the base-piece, the reciprocable inking carriage, and means for effecting the elevation and depression of the track-rails on which the inking carriage is mounted in relation to the type form; also the reciprocable platen, and the means whereby the platen is reciprocated towards and from the type form by means of the operating handle. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the operating shaft to which the handle is secured, also showing the cam on the shaft for moving the platen downward towards the type form.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a designates the base portion of the press which is preferably cast in one piece and formed with a hollow or recessed under portion I). Mounted within the recessed portion 1) is the slotted lever-arm c that is secured to the lower end of the'rotatable shaft d. The upper end of the shaft (1 has secured thereto the fork member 6 which is provided with the two arms f and g. The shaft d is suitably mounted in bearings in the upright members h that are bolted to the base-piece a by means of the machine bolts 1'. Extending transversely of the machine is a shaft j (rotatably mounted in the bearing portions 70 of the member h,) which is provided with a collar on secured thereto by means of the set-nut o and has depending therefrom on the lower side of the same an arm p on the lo wer end of which is mounted an anti-friction roller, q that is adapted to engage the arms f and g of the fork e.

r designates the operating handle that is secured to the shaft j by means of the collar 8 and set-nut t,-the collar 8 being cast integral with the cam it.

The upright members h are provided with guide-ways or passages 11 on their inner. side which are adapted to receive the projecting portion in of the horizontally disposed member x that is secured to the uprights h by means of the screws 2 that are threaded into lugs 2 on the upright members. Parallel with the member 90 and located below the same is the platen 3 that is adapted for vertical movement towards and from the basepiece a on which is mounted the type form which will be referred to later. The platen 3 is normally held in an elevated position by means of the coil-springs 4 that encircle the posts 5 that are secured to the base-piece a at their lower end. The platen 3 is provided with laterally projecting arms that engage the guide-ways '1) so that the upper end of the springs 4 engages these arms and normally elevates the platen, as shown at 4 In order to provide for the proper guidance of the platen 3 in its vertical movements and parallel with the type form 6, openings 7 are provided in the fixed horizontally disposed member as through which rods 8 can freely pass. These rods are threaded at their lower ends, as indicated at 9, and are provided with set nuts 10. The rods 8 are screwed into the platen 3 and the set-nuts 10 are then tightened against the platen whereby the same is always held in a fixed and parallel relation to the type-form 6. In order to move the platen 3 toward and from the type-form 6, the cam it engages the upper end of the plunger 12 which carries an anti-friction roller 13 at its upper end. This plunger engages the upper end of the platen 3 at the point 14.

Referring now to the reciprocable inking carriage which is designated by the numeral 15, the same is given a reciprocating movement across the type form 6 by means of the standard 16 which engages the slotted arm 0 by means of the anti-fricti on roller 17 at its lower end, the arm c being rotated by means of the shaft d which in turn is rotated by the arm p engaging the arms f and g of the forked member e. The inking roller is designated by the numeral 18 and is made of absorbent material, preferably felt, and in use is saturated with suitable printing ink that will not dry out and leave a gummy residuum. The rollers are provided, centrally with shafts, with bearings in the inking carriage 15, and upon the outer ends of these shafts are the antifriction wheels 20 whichlsupport the inking carriage during its movement on the track-rails 19, the inking carriage being guided additionally by theQwheel 21 under the rail. It will be observed that this rail is adjustably mounted on the base-piece a by means of the set-nuts 22 and 23.

The typeform 6 is securely held against lateral movement in the upper portion of the base a by means of the shoulders 7.2The platen 3 is provided with suitable inwardly projecting lips 24, thus providing pas sage-waysi24 -ffor the blank 25, whereby the blank is prevented from getting out of alinement during the vertical reciprocating movements of the platen during the printing operation.

26 designates a stop that is secured to the platen 3 and is for the purpose of preventing the blank being drawn into the machine beyond a certain distance.

26 indicate rubber fingers that are carried on the upper side of the inking roller carriage and are for the purpose of frictionally engaging the under side of the blank 25 so that when the inking carriage is moved towards the right by means of the elements 1:, (Z, 16

which are operated by the handle 1", shafts j, arm p, fork e, the blank 25 will be drawn into the platen and a further movement of the handle in the same direction after operating the ink carriage 15 to draw in the blank 25 will bring the cam a into contact with the roller 13 and force the platen 3 in toward the type form 6 thus bringing the card into contact therewith. Upon releasing the handle r, the springs 4 will again elevate the platen and at the same time bring the handle 7' backward again so that the part 27 of the cam is in engagement with the roller 13; and upon further reverse movement of the handle 1', the roller q will engage the arm 9 of the fork a rotating the shaft (1 whereby the inking carriage 15 is returned to its initial position, as shown at the left of Fig. 2, and the rubber fingers 26 on the inking carriage in this movement will eject the blank 25 from the projecting lips 24 of the platen 3. The cam a is provided with the recessed portion 28 which receives the upper end of the plunger 12, this being the initial position of the parts.

The front cover29 is hinged at the point 30 so that the same can be turned downward permitting the insertion of the type form 6, and after the same has been inserted, is turned back again to the position shown in Fig. 2. The other cover 31 serves the purpose of receiving the inking carriage at the end of its rearward movement, and is thus protected while in this position.

The inking rollers which I employ in my machine are absorbent and saturated with a nongumming and slowdrying ink in order to keep the press in a permanent inked condition and to avoid the necessity of re-inking and cleaning up every time the press is used, as is the case when ordinary rollers and printers ink are employed.

The operation of the parts having been clearly set forth, what I claim, is:

l. A printing press of the class described in combination with the base-piece thereof, uprights secured thereto, a rotatable shaft mounted in the uprights and provided with a depending arm, a vertically arranged shaft having at its upper end a forked member for receiving the depending arm, a slotted arm secured at the lower end of the vertically arranged shaft, an inking carriage connected to the slotted arm whereby when the rotatable shaft is operated the inking carriage is given a reciprocating move ment, as described.

2. A printing press of the class described in combina tion with the base-piece thereof, uprights secured thereto, a rotatable shaft mounted in the uprights and provided with a depending arm, a vertically arranged shaft having at its upper end a forked member for receiving the depend ing arm, a slotted arm secured at the lower end of the vertically arranged shaft, an inking carriage connected to the slotted arm, a cam carried by the rotatable shaft, a platen adapted for vertical movement between the uprights, a plunger extending between the cam and the platen whereby when the rotatable shaft is operated the inking carriage is given a reciprocating movement and during further movement of the rotatable shaft the platen will be given a reciprocating vertical movement, as described.

In a machine of the class described, inking carriage, means for reciprocating the same, an adjustable rail for supporting the carriage, a platen, means for reciprocating the same, elastic fingers supported by the carriage, the fingers being adapted during the movement of the inking carriage to draw a card into the machine and in contact with the lower surface of the platen and to eject the card from the machine at the end of the reverse movement of the carriage, as described.

THEODORE F. WALES.

a reciprocating Witnesses JNo. P. GRAY, P. B. HALL,

HARRY H. BENNETT. 

